Elevated Brotherhood
"We are the Elevated Brotherhood, a gathering of mages and their supporters" - Calen The Elevated Brotherhood is a group of both magical and non-magical individuals aligned behind a similar purpose - freedom from Chantry oversight. They believe in the freedom to practice magic, and that if magic can be used to help, it should be, though they seemingly do not follow the supremacist line that their brethren in Minrathous and the Imperium do. Background Little is known of the formation or hierarchy of the Brotherhood, outside of what Calen revealed to the Party. He suggested that there is a long-standing shadow rivalry with the Purifiers, primarily due to their extremist views on wiping out any and all mages and their allies that they come across. Both groups have sought ways to gain the advantage over their foes, with the Brotherhood interrupting a deal, involving Blaen and a Purifier Commander Ardal, that would have secured the Purifiers a substantial supply of lyrium. Only five members of the Brotherhood have been revealed so far, the aforementioned Calen, a commander of a party of two mages and two magically-enhance spearmen. Allusions to a mysterious and hidden leader were made as well. Encountering The Party The Brotherhood made its first appearance in the Judicael Tavern in Val Royeaux, an unknown member listening in on a conversation between Blaen, Vay and Kynedrin. Having been tipped off as to Blaen's recent acquisition of lyrium from a Carta band, they had been tailing him for a while. They were even aware of the lunch between Blaen, Ardal and Lady Melanie de Sennoya, keeping tabs on all parties involved, fearing for such a brazen and public activity on the part of Ardal. Hearing a deal being made between the Elven Vay to interrupt Lady Sennoya's party on the pretext of The Game, the member disappeared into the night, something the Party member noticed but paid no real heed to. Later that evening, while Vay and Caspar were negotiating with the Baron of Verchiel, Jean Decourt, to capture Blaen for their own dealings, members of the Brotherhood appeared to Saidra and Balbus. Seeming to drop out of thin air, the leader of the group sat beside them, their face veiled by some form of magic that only Saidra was able to pierce, causing it to flicker between male and female intermittently. Stating their disappointment that two of their own would so brazenly be acting against their purpose, the leader warned them that they dabbled with powerful people, with more at stake than they realized. Standing up, the leader offered but a curt warning - that they hoped the Party would make the right decision before it was too late, and they thus had to make it for them. Stunned and threatened by such an event, the group next encountered the Brotherhood at the party thrown by Lady de Sennoya. After a few hours had passed, with the Party continually searching for any semblance of Blaen, a Templar or signs of disruption, Caspar noticed a group of individuals heading down into a cellar. Barred from entrance by two figures wielding large spears, it was not until Balbus headed down and noticed they wore the same clothes as those who had appeared to them before, that they realized what was going on. Going and collecting the rest of his companions, the figures bowed their heads, happy that they had chosen to change their decision, and instantly vanished into thin air to join the melee that had broken out inside the wine cellar. It seemed that what was once a negotiation had now broken down into a free-for-all upon the intervention of the Brotherhood, with Ardal declaring his paranoia that had been a trap all along. While the combat did not last long, it claimed many lives, including those of Blaen and his supporters, and Ardal with his Purifiers. Calen was almost felled in one strike by his rival, managing to come back from the brink of death by draining Ardal's life to replenish his own. As the atmosphere calmed, Calen was approached by the Party as his wounds were tended to. Offered a healing touch by Saidra, the two groups conversed, with Calen revealing his name, the nature of the deal that he been occurring, and stating the purpose and basic nature of both the Brotherhood itself, and the Purifiers. The Party offered their own aid in helping to eliminate the Purifiers, feeling their causes aligned with the Brotherhood for the time being. Appreciating the gesture, Calen kindly declined the offer. With the deal of Ardal and his retinue, the Purifiers were likely to go underground for the time being, or just generally lessen the profile of their activities. He did however say that should any further information arise, they will reach out to the party for aid. As Kynedrin and Vay had been inspecting the lyrium cargo and the money brought by Ardal for the deal, it was upon prompting by Calen that Vay first revealed a name to the Party. Before any further conversation could be had, Lady Melanie appeared, slowly applauding the Party for having dealt with some nasty people, though she did mourn the loss of her curiosities. Looking over to where the Brotherhood had been, there was only empty air, the group having vanished once more. Category:Organizations